Heat applied transfers include a variety of indicia with inks, material layers, and adhesives that become bonded to material layers, for example, apparel such as shirts, jackets, or the like, upon pressurized contact and heating of the transfers and apparel between press platens. However, presses are typically manually operated and rely on a user (e.g., an operator) to control the force applied through the platens.
In the case of lettering as a graphic image, the lettering may be accurately and quickly transferred to the apparel without bleeding or partial interruptions in the bonding of the transfer, as long as the presses can be operated at a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time and at a predetermined pressure. Nevertheless, heat applied transfer presses must be simple, manually operated devices in order to satisfy the user's need to economically but quickly apply various lettering, symbols and numbering indicia selected by a customer and which must be applied to a selected piece of apparel. Such an apparatus must accommodate many variations in the arrangement of transfers and apparel, as well as the types of transfers and apparel materials available.
The accuracy and precision of the temperature, the pressure and the time duration for which these parameters are applied to the transfers are particularly important to complete an efficient bonding of the transfers to materials. In particular, depending upon materials and the structure of the indicia to be applied to the apparel, indicia may be subject to inconsistent application conditions throughout the surface of apparel to which the transfer is applied. For example, excessive temperature may cause the ink or adhesive to bleed into the apparel material so that the indicia becomes discolored or a blend of different colors thus changing the original appearance of the indicia intended to be applied. Likewise, the application of excessive pressure may cause bleeding of the colors while insufficient pressure between the platen pressing surfaces may result in blotched or unattached areas where the indicia failed to adhere completely to the garment.
Although some means are known to provide improved image results on various substrates, they tend to be difficult to use, time consuming and labor intensive. As in most businesses, since the applying, forming, fixing, etc. of images on substrates is becoming more competitive, it is becoming increasingly more important to be able to form high quality images on various substrates using different processes in a more efficient, inexpensive, and less-time consuming manner.
The thermal or heat transfer presses are used to apply graphic images on textiles or other similar substrates, or to press foil onto a substrate. The presses are general purpose machines capable of being used to apply any number of graphic images on any number of substrates with minimal setup. However, the optimal pressure for applying graphics and/or foil is not known to a press operator. Many press operators go by their “feel”, given their experience, to apply an appropriate amount of pressure. Thus, the graphic image may not be fully bonded to the textile or substrate given the imprecision of a press operator's “feel.” Additionally, a press operator may apply too much pressure and damage the graphic image, foil, or the textile or substrate itself. In many cases, the appropriate amount of pressure applied is a function of the temperature of the platens, the textile or substrate material, the textile or substrate thickness, the compressive nature of the graphic image, foil, textile and/or substrate, as well as the size of the graphic image or foil.
Moreover, there is a lack of consistency with the same press operator, as well as comparing different presses and press operators. Therefore, there exists a need in the art to provide an improved press for applying a consistent and repeatable force to apply graphic images or foils to textiles or substrates. For example, a device is needed that allows a press operator to consistently apply a known force to a platen. Moreover, the device allows a press operator to consistently apply the same force during multiple uses to provide the appropriate bonding of a graphic image or foil to a textile or substrate over a single use or multiple uses.